Farms

In July 1918, Hamburg Place’s John E. Madden disclosed his intention to retire as a public breeder and subsequently maintain only a small industry presence. Below is an advertisement posted in the Louisville Courier-Journal for a bloodstock dispersal sale to be held at at the farm on January 22, 1920.

Ultimately postponed from January 22 to February 3 due to a “sleet storm,” the sale is a great opportunity for historical window shopping for enthusiasts of the mares Maggie B.B. and Mannie Gray, as it seems as if almost every other broodmare in the sale traced back to one or the other.

During the course of the sale, 111 horses (76 broodmares, 35 yearlings) went through the ring, ultimately bringing a total of $124,874.

The sale topper was the 9-year-old Odgen (GB) mare Tea Enough (in foal to Star Shoot (GB)). A half-sister to outstanding racers Dick Welles, Ort Wells and producers Toggery (2nd dam of champion Jamestown) and Tea Biscuit (dam of sire Hard Tack), among others, Tea Enough went for $7,000 to Carr & Platt, who were bidding on behalf of oilman Edward F. Simms. While Tea Enough would not go on to produce any foals of note post-sale, her then 2-year-old daughter Daylight Saving (Star Shoot (GB)) would go on to produce Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Gusto (American Flag) in 1929, as well as handicapper Clock Tower (Snob (GB)) in 1928, himself the sire of champion Dawn Play.

The second highest price of the sale was the 7-year-old Sain (GB) mare Scenery (in foal to Ogden (GB)). Out of a half-sister to the below mentioned Orange and Blue, Scenery went for $5,000 to Carr & Platt, who were again bidding on behalf of Edward Simms.

“A party of well-known sportsmen recently visited the stud farm of Col. McDaniel, near Princeton, N. J., and one of them has written the following interesting account of the horses there:

A short walk brought us to the quarters of the great horse, Harry Bassett, but on the way we stopped to see a beautiful brown colt with remarkable quarters, a short, strong back, smooth, flinty legs with large, flat bones, well-set shoulders, a racing neck, with great throttle, and blood-like head.

“What is this, Colonel!” inquired Mr. Swigert, who was evidently attracted by the fine appearance of the colt.

“David calls him Senite. He is by Leamington, out of Rattan, and is an own brother to Cuba. I bought him at Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, and have, since my sale, exchanged one-half of him to Dr. Arthur Conover for one-half of Lady Salyers.”

The groom next showed us a red chestnut colt of fine size by Bassett , dam Orange Girl, which had been named Edward Howe. He exhibited an excellent back and quarters, and good smooth legs, with a rather homely neck and head, more useful than ornamental. He had a determined look about the head, and was as strong as Hercules. Following this fellow was a chestnut colt by Bassett, recently sold to Dr. Dickey, of New York. He is very much like his sire, stepped like a cat, and was as proud as a Prince, carried a beautiful neck, and was as perfectly finished as a jewel.

“This is Bowstring, by Bassett, out of Cordelia, by King Lear,” said David, as the groom led out a very handsome colt, trim and neat of form, with long smooth muscles well knit one into the other, and his feet well under him, indicating that he was quick on his legs and that speed was his forte. He was a mild-tempered, good-natured fellow, was willing to be caressed, and pleased with attention. His want of style and quick manner would fail to command the attention of an indifferent judge of horseflesh, but to him the connoisseur would draw near and pass him by reluctantly.

“What is this?” inquired Mr. Galway, as a bright chestnut with three white feet under the pasterns, was brought up with a step as elastic as ‘sweet 16,’ and a mien and air, a style and carriage, that spoke plainly to the beholder, ‘I am the Prince of Stonybrook.’

“The Brother to the Fawn, by Bassett, out of Spotted Fawn,” was the reply. He was a colt of extra quality, powerful through the flank and loins, with massive quarters, deep shoulders, broad and well set; limbs perfect, except in front, below the pasterns, where he was thought by some of the gentlemen present to have more space than is in keeping with strength; but we have seen some wonderful horses with this alleged defect, and memory now calls up so good a racer as Ballonkeel [sic]. Peytona, Socks, and Charmer are said to have made the imprint of their knuckles on a heavy track at every leap. The lofty bearing of this fellow, his spirited mettle, his powerful form, and blood-like appearance, very strongly argue in favor of his future success on the turf.

The Fawn has been ‘roughing it,’ and is not the pretty filly of last spring. St. James, who has been sent by Mr. Bissle, his recent purchaser, to his old home, has grown and spread very much, and looked to be greatly improved since his respite from the labors of the campaign.

Harry Bassett, the lord of the harem, we found in a roomy stall. As the door was opened, and the gentlemen stepped forward, eager for a sight of the hero of so many battles fought and won, Col. McDaniel carefully held the front, and issued his orders to his lordship, who received them with a most complaisant air, and obeyed them with a promptness and accuracy, showing that he comprehended their purport. When told to take a position in the stall, he moved promptly to the spot indicated, and when ordered returned with alacrity to a different one.

But Harry, like most of the Bostonians, has a way and a will of his own, and is very choice about his commanders, and confines them to a limited few, for Col. McDaniel and his groom are the only people at Stonybrook that care to come in contact with this noble animal, or that he permits to do so.

We did not fail to observe how differently the two manage him. Col. McDaniel talks to him, tells him what he desires him to do, and now and then makes a violent gesture with his walking-stick, and this weapon Harry has a poor liking for. We noticed that, however mildly and gently it was raised, he invariably manifested his displeasure at its sight by a naughty shake of the head, as much as to say ‘Stop! Enough of that.’

On the contrary, the groom rarely speaks to him, but walks promptly up, invariably approaching him in front, and Harry bows submissively, and submits himself perfectly to his will. When brought out he showed the strength of a giant. With a Godolphin neck, which is beautifully arched, a magnificent ear, eyes unsurpassed, full, clear, and prominent, that flashed electric sparks when excited, he treads the earth like the monarch that he is.

He stood a few moments as quietly as a lamb, and then quickly reared high in the air, turned half around upon his hind haunches, playing in the air with his fore feet, when he discovered that he was checked by the rein in the hands of the groom. Quick as thought he threw one foot over it, and came down upon it with his whole weight, forcing the groom to relinquish his hold upon it. The man did not lose his presence of mind. He seemed to be perfectly at home, for Harry’s forefoot scarcely touched the earth before he caught the rein half way to the check, and both horse and groom seemed to be delighted with the performance.”(Chicago Daily Tribune, 01/27/1878)

“There is much to see and be interested in in a visit to the six hundred or more acres of hill and dale and level land that make up the Valley Farm of Mr. Wm. Hendrie, a few miles north and west of Hamilton. Thoroughbred horses are the first and chief of its live stock interests, but one may also find there Shorthorn cattle, Shetland ponies, Yorkshire hogs, and a few varieties of choice fowls, not overlooking the war horses that wear feathers and can crow.

Twenty-four are in the brood mare list at the farm this season, and many strains of blood are represented. Half of the mares have done service on the race course for the brown and yellow jacket, and a dozen of them are of their owner’s breeding. All the others are American-bred, and so there is not an English-bred mare on the place, though thirteen of the twenty-four are by English sires, including, of course, the Derwentwaters. Two of them are Plate winners – Butterscotch [sic] and Lyddite – and the blood of the dams of both of these is carried also in their sisters – Maple Sugar and Firewater and Burnwater.

The foals of this season are by Harvey and Gold Car, but others are due by the Futurity winner, Martimas, and by Derwentwater. There are nine yearlings, of which four are the first progeny of Martimas. Gold Car’s stock will also be seen on the turf next year.

Four stallions are in use at the Valley Farm, though the blood of Derwentwater is now so numerously represented among the mares that this horse will not have the same opportunity as the others. The stallions are: –

These horses represent very successful lines in the stud, and though Martimas and Gold Car have not yet sent anything to the races, there is no reason to suppose they will be less successful than similarly bred horses elsewhere. Derwentwater has sired a number of winners, including the two that broke the ice for Mr. Hendrie in the event which he, like all other Canadian turfmen, was anxious to win, the King’s Guineas. Harvey did not go far when he was racing, but it is doubtful if a faster hose was ever seen at Valley Farm, and he really broke down before there was a fair chance to see how far he could stay. There is nothing in his breeding on either side to cause it to be taken for granted that he was not a horse for a distance. Himyar’s granddaughter, Cap and Bells, won the Oaks at a mile and a half, and Harvey is a very stoutly bred one on the other side. At any rate, though he was not favored in the choice of mares, all his progeny can run, and all but one that were trained are winners. Gold Car’s sire is a son of the wonderful Ormonde.

The list of mares and their progeny is:

Toronto Globe, 04/13/1905

The horses in training number twenty-three, including one bred and owned by Mr. Geo. M. Hendrie of Sandwich. Trainer Mosby and Foreman John Dixon have them looking in excellent order, with a clean bill of health after the long winter, and good prospects for the season now close at hand. The horses are: –

Light Brigade, the champion of the stable, will be taken along slowly this spring. He is light in flesh, and apparently is not wanted early, as he has not been nominated in the stakes of the Hamilton Jockey Club, which have already closed, though it may be that as both the events for which he is eligible there are over a mile, that may be considered beyond his distance. A horse of not a few training disabilities, he was prevented from racing till his four-year-old form. Mr. Hendrie bought him as a yearling, but could not start him at two years. At three be was again in training, and again his owner was disappointed in the expectation of seeing the son of the dead Maximo with the colors up. His private form, though, was such that Mr. Hendrie felt he could afford patience, with the assurance that Light Brigade would show himself well worth waiting for. At first appearance he won, and in sensational fashion. If Light Brigade were the property of a betting stable he would have returned a fortune for all that long wait. Mr. Hendrie, though, does not bet, and he found ample reward in the knowledge that his judgment was correct, and he had shown the public a high-class horse in the peacocky big chestnut.

The four-year-olds Scarfell and Loch Goil will be the stable’s dependence in the cup races of the local season, at least, and both have wintered well. Scarfell has not gained much in the matter of height, but has filled out and muscled up where it will do him most good. This is a very fast horse, as one must need to be to run half a mile in 46 seconds, and Scarfell did that at Saratoga last year when he won a seven furlongs race in 1.25 ½. He won in a gallop, too, with the nearest horse to him two lengths away. So handily was he going at the end of this tremendous burst that poor Otto Wonderly, who rode him, said to trainer Mosby when he dismounted: ‘If you had waved your hand to me I could have made a world’s record.’ Though he carried weight well enough as a two-year-old, he did not seem to care for it last year.

Nimble Dick, second in last year’s Plate, and a winner several times afterwards, is restricted to light work just now, on account of injury received when out on the road. The horses are doing their daily turn on the five furlongs track at the farm, which is in the best of order, and they will move to Woodbine as soon as the weather seems to be settled.

The Platers are three – Heather Jock, 4 years, and the three-year-old fillies Lorne Reel and Jeannie Dick. The colt is a brother to the disappointing Scotland Yet, which is nothing to his credit, and a half brother to the very good mare Laverock. He ran late last year and finished fifth in the Plate. His performance was one that indicated more merit than would be imagined from the positions of the horses at the finish, as he ran like one that would be improved by the race. A big and gross one, he was the kind that need actual racing to get them to their best order. He ran again in the Breeders’ Stakes, in which he was third to War Whoop and Nimble Dick. His next and last start was in the Stanley Stakes, in which he was fourth, pulling up lame.

The fillies are both unknown qualities, not alone to the public, as having never started, but even to their trainer, who has had little opportunity to assure himself whether or not they are likely to go fast or far. Mishaps which caused their temporary retirement last year, when they would have been asked some question, are responsible for that situation. Lorne Reel got into a barbed wire fence, and Jeannie Dick was kicked, so that both had to be put away when they would have been receiving the foundation for this spring’s training. Jeannie Dick was sent six furlongs in 1.18 last fall at Woodbine, but that was all she was asked to do. She runs in type to the other side of the house, and shows nothing of the Derwentwater in her make-up. In looks she is a Galopin, while Lorne Reel is a big, slashing Derwentwater, and she would have got size from her dam, Dance, if not from the Doncaster horse. Both gallop nicely, and it may be that one may turn out to be another Lyddite to upset calculations and bring another Plate to the Valley Farm.

The other three-year-olds are Blue Grouse and the Harvey filly Sampan, both good winners last year, and the maiden Land’s End, a promising big colt undoubtedly by Esher, though his dam was also bred to Handsome.

Of the dozen two-year-olds five are home-bred, two by Harvey and the others by Derwentwater. Preferential is the pick of the Province-breds. A full brother to Nimble Dick, he is a much better-shaped horse, and to all appearances a smarter one than Nimble Dick was at his age. He may be kept for next year’s Plate, but Mr. Hendrie will probably decide to send him along this season, and let him win if he can. Logan Water is a full sister to Circus Girl, and Blue Jeans is a useful-looking customer from the smart mare Cottonade.

Imported Griffon, a son of Galopin and a Hampton mare, is represented by three of the purchased youngsters, imp. Mazagan, son of Martagon, by two, and imp. King of Coins, and imp. Shapfell, Scarfell’s sire, by one each. It is early yet to estimate the probabilities of the season, but the Valley Farm may safely be said to have a useful lot with which to face what fortune has in store for the gallopers this season.” (Toronto Globe, 04/13/1905)